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Sometimes, it’s good to walk in the fog

I walked in the fog this morning. Most of the time, I could see no more than fifty yards in front of me. The water collected on my glasses and dripped from my hair. Through our little village, down the hill, around the retirement community. Not the bright, clear morning I expected. I enjoyed none of the usual views of hills and valleys, creeks and woods.

But I heard the world. The traffic on the highway down in the valley. Voices through an open door. The clip-clop and rattle of a horse and buggy on a gravel road. Music. Above all, the bird song. I tried counting the different calls, but there was such a chorus that it was difficult to sort out individual songs.

I smelled bacon, freshly mown grass, and horses. Admired the rich green silhouettes of pine trees in the mist. Saw things close to my path that I have missed before, like the even work of the mason who laid a stone wall, the droplets of water hanging on every twig of the still-bare redbud, the tiny blue stars of spring flowers on one grassy bank.

And, yes, because I wasn’t always looking at the long views, this morning I was more aware of the trash along the highway.

I saw only one other person in the early morning fog. She greeted me by name.

Sometimes, it is good for us to walk in the fog.

Maybe…when we cannot see what is ahead, we listen more closely for the Spirit’s voice.

Maybe…when we aren’t so preoccupied with the view far beyond today, we hear the songs of this moment.

Maybe…when we know nothing but pain, we learn to seek refuge in the only One who can truly comfort.

Maybe…when we walk with limited sight we grow in our trust of the Way we have chosen.

Maybe…when we ease our pursuit of far-off goals, we make better connections to fellow travelers.

Maybe…when we are forced to pay more attention to where we are right now, we are more aware of the trash in our lives, litter that mars the beauty.

Maybe…when we walk in the fog, God will extinguish our foolish notions that we can know or plan the future, will remind us that we know nothing about the path ahead.